Dredging-machine.



A. N. SMITH.

DREDGING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED .JULY 7,1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

weolvaa PATENTED APR. 25, 1905.

PATENTED APR. 25, 1906.

A. N. SMITH. DREDGING MACHINE. APPLIOATION FILED JULY 7.1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

zzzfi-mae Z/MM Patented April 25, 1905.

AMBROSE N. SMITH, OF CHTCAGO, ILLINOIS.

DREDGlNG-MAOHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 787,953, dated April25, 1905.

Application filed July 7,1904. Serial No. 215,582.

To ail/ 107mm it may cancer/1 Be it known that LAMnnosn N. SMITH,aeitizen of the United States, residing atUhicago, in the county of Cookand State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Im'provements in Dredgirig-Machines, of which the following, taken inconnection with the drawings, is a specification.

My invention has for its object the improvement of dredging-Inachineswhich are in use at the present time to provide a dredge capable ofdoing more work in a given length of time and one capable of beingadjusted for.

operation upon either side of the scow or boat to which it is attachedwithout such boat being moved from its original position.

In dredges of this kind as heretofore constructed considerabledifliculty has been expe rienced by the tilting of the scow when theload was being elevated. l have practically overcome this difficulty bymy arrangement of the derricks and pontoons, by whichl have sodistributed the strain and force exerted in elevating the load that thescow remains practically in its normal position.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from, the followingdescription.

I have illustrated my invention in preferred form in the accompanyingdrawings, in which- Figure l is a top plan view of my dredging apparatusand the scow to which it is attached. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of thesame.

In carryingout my invention, A represents a flatbottomed boat or scow ofthe kind ordinarily used in connection with dredging apparatus. Thisscow is provided with an anchor A at the rear thereof, which may also beof the kind now in general use for such purposes. The front part of thescow A is made circular in shape, as shown at B, for a purposehereinafter explained.

ln front of the scow A and conforming to the circular shape of the frontend thereof are two pontoons B B. These pontoons are arranged a suitabledistance apart to permitthe dredging apparatus to pass between them.They are secured in this position at each end in any desired manner, asshown at .7). Upon the deck of the scow and the pontoons are arrangedthe various engines or other powersupplying devices needed to operateand control the mechanisms hereinafter described. The rear end of thesepontoons B is made concave to lit andtraverse around the convex end B ofthe scow A. Upon the circular end of this scow is secured a turn-tableC, which may be operated from right to left, as desired, by means ofcables 0 or in any other well-known manner. The pontoons B are socuredto this table in any desired manner as, for instance, by means of the Ibeams I), also by guys a, secured to the derrick and cross-beam. \Vhenit is desired to turn the apparatus to the right or left of the scow,the table is turned to the desired position and the pontoons turn withit.

Upon the deck of the scow l have erected a derrick U, to which I havesecured apparatus for dumping the load when the dredge is in operation.This derrick is supported by guys a, secured to the platform of thescow, and d, secured to the cross-rod E Mounted upon a suitable supportD is a hop per or receptacle 1) for receiving the load dumped therein bythe bucket (Z. A pipe or carrier (1 leads from this receptacle to anypoint it may be desired to deposit the contents of the bucket (.1.

Suitable braces or supporting-beamsE E E are erected upon the pontoonsand are joined together at a convenient height by a crossbeam E. Thesebeams serve as a support for the dredging and elevating mechanism.

A crane F, by which the scoop is supported, has one end thereof securedto and turning with the table 0. This crane is secured at f by a guy fto the cross'beam E. The forward end of this crane is supported by guyssecured to the derrick at F. Ur 1s a scoop-support1ng beam,prov1ded uponits under side with a ratchet This ratchet meshes with a pinion g,mounted upon the beam E. A scoop or dipper [l is secured to the end ofthis beam by means of the bail /r, secured to the sides of the scoop.Another bail, /r, is attached to the top of the scoop or dipper H, towhich is secured a cable or chain 7L2, which passes over a pulley 7Ljournaled in the forward end of the crane F and is wound upon a drum I.

Attached to the scoop-supporting beam G, near the forward end thereof,is a cable or backing chain g which is also wound over a drum g WV henin use, the scoop or dipper H is swung downwardly, the cable 9 isslackened, and the ratchet is permitted to travel over the pinion g asuiiicient distance to enable the scoop to take up a load.

An I-beam J, one end of which is supported by the derrick at J, theother end secured to the beam E provides a track or way for a carrier JThis carrier is provided with small rollers 3' upon each end thereof tofacilitateits movement in elevating the load to the dumping-point.

Two bails Z; 71; are secured to the bucket (Z, and to each of thesebails is attached a cable or chain Z2 71;, which passes over a pulley Z,journaled in carrier .V, over another pulley, Z, journaled in a supportor bearing secured to one of the braces C of the derrick. These cablesare wound upon drums K, suitably mounted upon the rear platform of thescow A. If desired, for the purpose of adding greater strength twocables or chains may be attached to the bail it, passed over pulleys Zand Z, and be wound upon drum K.

Upon one of the pontoons B, previously described, I have provided amovable platform adapted to receive the bucket (Z when in position toreceive a load from the scoop H. This platform moves upon the arc of acircle, L being the tracks upon which it travels.

L is a pulley, around the periphery of which passes a cable L This cabletravels over small pulleys m m and is wound upon a drum M, which isoperated by any suitable source of power. (Not here shown.)

M is a frame of any kind desired to support the platform M One end ofthis frame is rigidly secured to the pulley L and moves therewith. Theother end of the frame is adapted to travel over and be supported by thetrack L. WVhen the scoop H is on the descending position, the frame andplatform are in the position shown in Fig. 1. hen the scoop is raised,the bucket (Z is lowered by slackening the cables Z1 until it rests uponthe platform M when pulley L, carrying the frame M and platform M isturned to a horizontal position with bucket (Z ready to receive thecontents of the scoop H. When the bucket (Z has received its load, theplatform is moved out of the way, the scoop descends for another load,and the bucket (Z is elevated to deposit its load into the receptacle D,from whence it is carried away through pipe (Z.

In the drawings I have shown the apparatus ready for dredging in frontof the scow. When it is desired to change the base of operations, anattendant simply swings the turntable 0 by any well-known means (nothere described) to the right or left, and this table moves with it thepontoons B and the entire dredging apparatus. It will thus be seen thatthe dredge can be turned to operate at right angles to the right or leftof its normal position or at any angle therebetween. During this entireoperation the scow remains anchored in one position, thereby saving thetime necessary to change positions in the dredges now in common use.

I have shown my invention applied to what I may term a scoop-dredge; butI contemplate also employing the pontoons and turntable in connectionwith an elevator-dredge, as it is obvious that an elevator-dredge couldbe operated between the pontoons equally as well as the scoop. Thechanges necessary to operate the elevator instead of the scoop would beslight. In such case the platform mechanism I have illustrated in Fig. 1would be dispensed with and the hopper or receptacle D would be locatedin a position to receive the load directly from the elevator.

It will be observed that by the use of my dredge a large amount of timeis saved by being able to dump the load almost as soon as it has leftthe water, leaving the scoop ready to descend for the next load, whilethe former one is being carried away and deposited. By this means atleast one third more work can be done in a given length of time thanwith apparatus now in use.

I do not desire to be limited to the precise construction shown anddescribed herein, as many of the details thereof may be changed withoutdeparting from the spirit of my invention, which consists, essentially,in providing a dredge which may be changed in its position withoutmoving the boat carrying the same and in so distributing the strain andforce of the dredge that the boat is kept from tilting when a load iselevated.

I have shown and described my apparatus as applied to a dredge foroperating in water; but I contemplate the use of my invention inexcavating upon the land by having the apparatus mounted upon suitableplatforms from which the dredging mechanism may be operated instead ofthe scows and pontoons.

I claim- 1. In a dredge the combination with ascow, two pontoonsadjustably connected to the forward end of said scow, said pontoonsbeing separated to permit the dredging apparatus to work therebetween,substantially as described.

2. In a dredge, the combination with a scow having a turn-table upon theforward end thereof, pontoons secured to and moving with saidturn-table, said pontoons being separated to permit a dredging apparatusto work therebetween, substantially as described.

3. In adredge, the combination with a scow,

of a turn-table upon the forward end thereof, pontoons secured to andadapted to move with said turn-table, a movable platform mounted uponone of said pontoons, a track upon which said platform travels, andsuitable means for moving said platform over the track, substantially asdescribed.

I. In a dredge, the combination with a seow, of a turn-table upon theforward end thereof, pontoons secured to and adapted to move with saidturn-table, a main derrick, a crane, one end of which is guyed to saidderrick, the opposite end secured to and moving with the saidturn-table, a scoop or dipper supported by a cable passing over one endof said crane and suitable mechanism for operatii'ig said scoop,substantially as described.

5. In a dredge, the combination with a scow, a turn-table mounted uponthe forward end thereof, pontoons rigidly secured to said turntable,dredging apparatus mounted upon said pontoons and adapted to be movedtherewith, and suitable mechanism for turning said turntable, pontoonsand dredge, substantially as described.

6. Ina d redge, the combination withascow, of a turn-table upon theforward end thereof, pontoons secured to and adapted to move with saidturn-table, dredging apparatus adapted to operate between said pontoons,and a receptacle located at the rear of the dredging apparatus adaptedto receive the load from the dredge, substantially as described.

7. In a dredging-machine, the combination of a seow, dredgingapparatusoperating therefrom, means for adjusting the position of said dredgingapparatus, a receiving-bucket secured to and traveling with a carrierupon a track supported upon derricks, said bucket adapted to receive aload from said dredging apparatus, substantially as described.

8. In a dredging-machine, the combination with the seow and pontoons,dredging apparatus mounted upon and operated therefrom, means for movingsaid dredging apparatus to the right or left of said scow, and areceptacle for receiving the load from the dredge, substantially asdescribed.

9. In a dredge, the combination with a seow, of a turn-table upon theforward end thereof, pontoons secured to and adapted to move with saidturn-table, a main derrick supported by the aforesaid seow, a secondderrick supported by the pontoons, a dredging apparatussecured to saidderricks, and means for operating the same, a movable platform securedto one of the aforesaid pontoons upon which a receivingbucket rests,means for moving said platform and bucket into position to receive theload from the dredge, and means for elevating said receiving-bucket,substantially as described.

AMBROSE N. SMITH.

IVitnesses:

FLORENCE KING, CHARLES 1. Conn.

